The Noh play begins. The musician waits, his drum resting on his hip. He watches the action from the musicians’ area onstage, visible to the audience. And when his cue arrives, he forcefully strikes the tight animal skin with a calloused hand to create a sharp pop.
This is an elaborately decorated *ōtsuzumi *, a large drum, one of four instruments integral to traditional Japanese Noh theater. This type of drum is also used in kabuki theater, gagaku, and folk songs. Kabuki is a traditional style of Japanese theater that has risqué, or wild, themes. Gagaku is imperial court music and dancing.
Tigers, representing strength and fortitude, can still be found in the wild in China, but not Japan. Their presence in Japanese art highlights the great influence that Chinese art has had on Japanese art.
Japanese squirrels are pretty similar to those in the U.S., but they have slightly pointier ears. The squirrel on this drum core is very stylized.
The flecked gold resembles the surface of a pear- thus the name of the technique, which involves sprinkling small flat gold or silver flakes onto a partially damp lacquer surface.
A popular lacquer decorating technique is maki-e, or sprinkled picture. Artists use a hollow bamboo tube to carefully sprinkle metallic flakes or powder on damp lacquer.